Thai Airways offers a full-service product even on short flights, like my 755-mile journey from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur on a 787-9 in “Royal Silk” business class.
Thai Airways 787-9 Business Class – My First Impressions
Thai Airways has simplified its fleet, but still flies a mix of Airbus A330-330s, A350-900s, Boeing 777-200s, 777-300s, 787-8s, and 787-9s. The A350s have four different business class seats, while the 787-9 I was on has only the Safran Cirrus II seat, a reverse herringbone product.
Onboard, I found my seat in 11K, a bulkhead seat in the front of the plane that features extra room for your feet.
Impressively, a nice duvet and pillow were offered, even though the flight time was under two hours. Menus were distributed, and a full multi-course dinner was served after takeoff, including mixed nuts to start and a Thai-style eggplant salad with scallop and caviar as an appetizer.
For the main course, I chose sous vide beef short rib with massaman sauce, served with Thai jasmine rice and sauteed mixed vegetables with garlic, a very delicious dish. The dessert was beautifully presented as well and there was a full bread basket with dinner as well, including rich garlic bread, and a cheese course.
What a pleasant dinner!
I placed the seat into lie-flat mode after dinner and found (like on American Airlines) there was a wide gap between cushions, which seems to be a problem with this seat.
Wi-Fi worked onboard and the full IFE library was on offer, but I looked out the window…it was a beautiful sunset down to Malaysia.
CONCLUSION
I’m not sure that Thai Airways has ever really changed despite a supposed major restructuring during the pandemic. The onboard product remains excellent and while that particular seat is cause for concern, overall, I was quite comfortable in the lie-flat position and greatly appreciated the warm hospitality and delicious dinner onboard the very short flight to KL.
I’ll share more pictures and details in my full review, but bottom line: even with the gap in the cushion, I prefer the Thai 787-9 to the 787-8 or A350-900 with Jamco or Stelia Solstys seats.
Now for three nights at three Hyatt hotels…first, the brand-new Hyatt Regency
I’m sharing about my whirlwind trip through Asia.
The generous, well-intentioned and seasoned TG knows its stuff.
Q. I know you don’t do it for all your flight reviews but when you do a selfie in the seat you always look so grumpy, despite being in the best part of the plane. Cheer up, mate!
I did look pretty angry, here…not a flattering picture.
Flying with Thai is always interesting, you never what style of seat you will get given potential aircraft swaps…
A pleasant flight with one of Thai’s 4 B787-9 Dreamliners…
Beautiful. Trying Thai’s new a320 Business Class in 2026, but this 787 seems much better!
What is the breaded item next to the short rib? It’s not listed on the menu.
Roasted potatoes.
I recently flew Thai from BKK to Bali, a four-hour jaunt. It was truly amazing. The service was perfect with FAs providing a warm and sincerely welcoming attitude, the food was delish and the A350 a lovely plane with very comfortable seats in Royal Silk. I by far preferred my flight on Thai to my two on Singapore (which were lovely in that too studiedly perfect, perfunctory SIA way. Thai is a great way to fly!